By this time, a new power was growing in the north of Greece. In 353 BC, Philip I was in undisputed control of a much-enlarged Macedonia. Phalanx tactics were known from ancient Sumer and Egypt, but Philip perfected the tactical use of spear-wielding Hoplites in dense, massive blocks of eight, or even 16-20 ranks, sacrificing flexibility and mobility in order to achieve maximum protection and power. Unless Alexander (336-323 BC) was himself responsible for his father's assassination in 336 BC, he cannot have foreseen the moment of his succession - but he was certainly prepared. Educated by Aristotle and left in charge of Macedonia during Philip's attack on Byzantium, Alexander defeated the Maedi; two years later he commanded the left wing at the battle of Chaeronea, in which Philip defeated the allied Greek states. By the time of his death at the age of 33, Alexander had moved the great centers of civilization westward initiating a new age, spread Hellenism in a vast colonizing wave throughout the Middle East and created, at least economically and culturally if not politically, a single civilization stretching from Gibraltar to the Punjab, open to trade and intellectual intercourse. However, the Greek empire could hardly survive Alexander's death. During a 40-year (323-280 BC) interregnum, the provinces became independent kingdoms, with various of Alexander's generals rising to rule through bloodshed and assassination, yet unable to ally against the coming of a new military power. By 350 BC, Rome was encroaching on the westernmost Greek settlements, beginning a 200-year conquest of the Hellenic world that Alexander had created. With the defeat of Cleopatra and Mark Anthony, Octavian's forces occupied Egypt and the last kingdom of Alexander's successors fell to Rome. For two millennia, Greece was part of the Roman, then Byzantine and finally the Ottoman empires. Following an uprising supported by Britain, Russia and France, Greece's existence as an independent nation gained formal recognition in 1832.